WASHINGTON (MEDIA GENERAL) — Hillary Clinton is busy fending off accusations that she smeared Bernie Sanders supporters as overly idealistic millennials living in their parents’ basements.

In reality, the leaked audio from February perfectly reflects her evolution on the issue of college affordability – from “free college” skeptic to its biggest cheerleader.

Throughout the campaign, Clinton has been fond of sharing her personal history as a cash-strapped law student subsisting on student loans.

The Yale Law grad tells crowds it was only through loans, and the education they afforded, that she landed a rewarding job at the Children’s Defense Fund for a paltry $14,000 a year.

The final sum was sizable but manageable. Her loan repayments were capped due to her low salary. The interest rates weren’t exorbitant.

Why on earth, she demands, are today’s students not given the same opportunity?

It’s a bonding moment we’ve seen time and again in 2016 between the multimillionaire candidate and the millennials whose votes she covets.

Clinton embraces free tuition

At the beginning of this election cycle, Clinton introduced her “New College Compact,” which has maintained much of its structure to this day.

The Democratic nominee often uttered the words “debt-free” and insisted that anyone who was willing to work hard should have the chance to graduate from public universities without crushing student loan debt.

Debt-free, not scot-free, was the message du jour.

Early on, Clinton argued that every family, rich or poor, should make at least a small monetary investment in their child’s education.

But as Clinton courted former opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) endorsement, she tweaked her proposal to finally include that all-important four-letter word: free.

The alteration left many confused about what, exactly, Clinton’s final plan entails.